Courses & Education

Education at Martineau Gardens – An Outdoor Learning Environment

Martineau Gardens started life as an environmental study centre, later becoming a community garden. Its purpose was to teach children in Birmingham to appreciate wildlife and the natural world. A multitude of diverse habitats and features were creatively designed with children in mind, within the modest two and half acre site which still remains today.

Staff at Martineau Gardens provide themed activities for children from schools, after-school groups and for personal celebrations. The Gardens are also used by groups where activities are run by a teacher or specialist educator.

Many of the activities on offer are linked to the National Curriculum for Primary Schools, eg Make a Habitat (Key Stage 1 and 2 Design & Technology / Science); Plotting the Gardens (Key stage 1 and 2 Geography/Citizenship) and The Harvest (Key Stage 1 and 2 Citizenship / PSHE / Science). In addition, Forest School activities are run weekly with a local Nursery School.

Young people from Secondary Schools in Birmingham also have the opportunity to spend two weeks on work experience learning about horticulture, alongside a diverse range of volunteers.

We welcome partnerships with schools and other providers, contact us on 0121 440 7430 to discuss your requirements.

Courses at Martineau Gardens

We have a series of environmental courses running in 2012. We will be adding to the list during the year, to see what’s planned so far, look at the list on the top right of this page (with links through to course descriptions). Full details are available from the course providers,  the Low Impact Living Initiative .